Cotter pin applying and removing tool



May 5,1959 P. J. BECKER, JR

COTTER PIN APPLYING AND REMOVING TOOL Filed Dec. 28, 1955 I INVENTOR 1 @0766 7", J77

BY X.

ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,884,690 COTTER PIN APPLYING AND REMOVING TOOL Philip J. Becker, Jr., Grandview, Wash. Application December 28, 1955, Serial No. 555,925 4 Claims. (Cl. 29-247) which may be readily employed for applying cotter pins 1 to relatively inaccessible parts and for removing cotter pins therefrom.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tool which will automatically engage and retain a cotter pin inserted therein, substantially immovable with respect to the tool and from which the cotter pin can be readily released after application of the pin to parts to be connected thereby.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a tool of the aforedescribed character which, while capable of being constructed in various sizes, is adapted to be constructed in a size convenient to be carried in the pocket or in a tool box.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawing, illustrating presently preferred embodiments thereof, and wherein:

Figure l is a fragmentary plan view of the tool;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figures 3 and 4 are enlarged cross sectional views of the tool, taken substantially along planes as indicated by the lines 3-3 and 4-4, respectively, of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary top plan view of one end of the tool and showing the parts in a different position from the position of the parts as seen in Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 6-6 of Figure 5;

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member 11. The bar 12 has an opposite end portion extending outwardly from the other end 15 of the body member or handle 11 and which is provided, adjacent the terminal of said outer bar end, with a transversely extending notch 16 which opens laterally through one longitudinal side edge of the bar 12.

A bar 17 is slidably disposed against one side of the bar 12 and has an end portion slidably disposed in the tube 11 and extending from the tube end 15 to a point adjacent to but spaced from the fastening 13. Said inner end of the bar 17 forms an abutment 18 for one end of a compression spring 19, the other end of which bears against the fastening 13 for urging the bar 17 to slide outwardly with respect to the tube end 15 and relative to the bar 12. A portion of the tube 11, located between the fastening 13 and tube end 15, is provided with a slot 20 disposed longitudinally thereof for slidably receiving a connecting element 21 the inner end of which is fixed to and projects perpendicularly from said bar 17 and in a direction away from the bar 12. A button 22 is disposed against a portion of the outer side of the tube 11 and is anchored to the outer end of the connecting element 21 and is adapted to be man- Figure 7 is a cross sectional view, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 7-7 of Figure 5;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a modified form of tool attachment for use in lieu of parts as shown in Figures 1 and 2, and

Figure 9 is a fragmentary plan view of another modified tool attachment.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, the first with reference to Figures 1 to 7, the cotter pin applying and removing tool in its entirety and comprising the invention is designated generally 10 and includes an elongated tubular body member 11 constituting the tool handle and tool bit holder. An elongated bar 12 has a portion fitting snugly in the tube 11, as best seen in Figure 3. A fastening 13, such as a rivet, extends diametrically through the tube 11 and through an end portion of the bar 12 for anchoring said bar end immovably in the tube 11. Said fastening 13 is located adjacent to but spaced from an end 14 of the body ually engaged for retracting the bar 17 inwardly of the tube end 15 and against the pressure of the spring 19. The bar 17, between its opposite end and the tube end 15, is provided with an elongated longitudinally extending slot 23 which slidably engages the shank of a headed fastening 24 which is anchored in and extends upwardly from the bar 12 and the head of which, designated 25, is disposed above the bar 17 and has a transverse width greater than the width of the slot 23. The fastening 24 cooperates with the slot 23 to prevent the bar 17 being displaced upwardly away from the bar 12 and to prevent lateral displacement of the outer end of the bar 17 relative to the bar 12. Said outer end of the bar 17 has a longitudinally extending notch 26 opening outwardly thereof. A small base plate 27 is secured to the exposed side of the bar 17 between the notch 26 and slot 23 by a fastening 28 and is provided with a finger 29 which extends from the end thereof, located adjacent said notch 26. The finger 29, which is preferably formed of spring steel, is offset upwardly away from the exposed surface of the bar 17 and overlies the notch 26, as clearly illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7.

Figures 1 and 2 show the bar 17 in a retracted position as it would appear with the button 22 manually engaged and pulled toward the tube end 14, so that the notch 26 and finger 29 are retracted away from the notch 16 and are located between said notch 16 and the tube end 15. The bar 17 may thus be held retracted by the hand used to grip the body member or handle 11 for supporting the tool 10, and while thus held, the legs 30 of a cotter pin 31 may be inserted into the notch 16 to assume a position in longitudinal alignment with the notch 26 and with the eye or loop 32 of the cotter pin 31 disposed to receive the finger 29, when the bar 17 is projected. The retaining pressure may then be released from the button 22 permitting the loaded spring 19 to project the bar 17 outwardly, from right to left as seen in Figures 1 and 2, from the retracted position of said bar 17 as seen in these views, to the projected position of the bar 17, notch 26 and finger 29, as seen in Figures 5, 6 and 7. In the projected position of the bar 17, the notch 26 thereof is'disposed in crossed relation to the notch 16 and with the cotter pin legs 30 extending through the square opening thus formed by said notches 16 and 26, as seen in Figure 5. Also, the finger 29 extends through the cotter pin eye or loop 32, as seen in Figures 6 and 7, to cooperate with the notches to retain the cotter pin confined by the tool end as seen in these views, and so that the cotter pin 31, while thus held, may be readily inserted by a manipulation of the tool through openings or parts to be connected thereby, not shown, and which may be located in a relatively inaccessible location and which could not be readily reached without the tool 10. It will be apparent that the spring 19 will retain the bar 17 in its projected position of Figures 5, 6 and 7 until the bar 17 is retracted by manipulation of the but-ton 22, since the spring 19 remains partially loaded when the bar 17 is projected. The slot 23 limits movement of the bar 17 toward a projected position. After the cotter pin 31 has been inserted through the parts to be connected thereby, the bar 17 is manually retracted, after which the tool 10 can be moved laterally in a direction for disengaging the notch 16 from the cotter pin 31, after which the cotter pin loop 32 may be tapped by a part of the bar 12 located adjacent the notch 16 for completing the insertion of the cotter pin.

The body member 11, from a point spaced from the fastening 13 to its end 14, is internally thickened to provide a bore end 33 of noncircular cross section, as best seen in Figure 4, adapted to slidably and non-turnably receive the shank end 34 of a tool bit 35. Said shank end 34 is of a cross sectional shape to conformably fit the bore portion 33, as best seen in Figure 4. The body member 11 is provided with diametrically oppositely disposed longitudinally extending slots 36 which open outwardly of the end 14 and which extend inwardly therefrom a short distance, as best seen in Figure 2, to receive slidably therein portions of a pin 37 which extends transversely through the shank 34 and has its intermediate portion anchored therein. The pin 37 is of a length greater than the exterior diameter of the tube 11 so that the end portions of the pin 37 protrude from the periphery of the tube 11, as seen in Figures 2 and 4.

A pair of corresponding spring clips 38 have complementary inner ends which are anchored against the outer side of the tube 11 by the end portions of the fastening 13, as seen in Figure 2. The spring clips 38 extend longitudinally of the tube 11 from the fastening 13 toward the end 14 and have outwardly flared opposite free ends 39, located adjacent said tube end 14. Said spring clips 38, each of which comprises an elongated strip of a resilient material such as spring steel, have outwardly bowed portions 40 located adjacent said ends 39 to receive the terminal portions of the pin 37 for retaining the bit shank 34 in the bore portion 33, as seen in Figures 2 and 4. The spring clips 38 also inlude outwardly bowed portions 41, located between the fastening 13 and said portions 40, and substantially flat portions 42, located between the portions 40 and 41 and which bear against portions of the outer surface of the tube 11.

From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that the bit shank 34 is inserted into the bore end 33 with the ends of the pin 37 disposed to align with the slots 36. As end portions of the pin 37 enter the slots 36, the pin terminals will contact the inner sides of the flared clip ends 39 to cam said clips 38 outwardly to permit the pin to move to the inner ends of the slots 36 and in alignment with the clip portions 40, whereupon the clips 38 will spring inwardly to their positions of Figures 1, 2 and 4 for latching the bit shank 34 to the body member or handle 11. In order to release and remove said shank 34 from the handle 11, pressure is exerted with the thumb and index finger against the clip portions 41 to cause the clip portions 42 to fulcrum and slide on portions of the handle 11 so that the clip portions 39 and 40 will be sprung outwardly and away from the handle 11 to release the terminals of the pin 37 so that the tool bit may be slidably detached from the tool handle 11.

The other, cotter pin engaging end of the tool bit 35 includes an outwardly tapered blade 43 which is preferably triangular in cross section to provide an edge Which may be used to engage between and spread the cotter pin legs 30. Said outer end of the bit 35 also includes a long slender prong 44 which is laterally spaced from the prong 43 and which may be inserted into the loop or eye 32 for extracting the cotter pin 31. The prongs 43 and 44 converge inwardly with respect to one another to form a long inwardly tapered notch 45 which may engage beneath the cotter pin loop 32 for extracting the cotter pin 31.

A slightly diflerent form of tool bit 35a is illustrated in Figure 2. However, the inner end portion 34 thereof corresponds to the inner end of the tool bit 35 and the parts thereof bear the same reference numerals. The tool bit 35a differs from the tool bit 35 only in respect to the outer end thereof which is provided with two prongs 46 and 47 which are bent to extend laterally from the axis of the bit 35a, either of which may be utilized to engage in the cotter pin eye 32 for extracting the cotter pin. Figure 8 illustrates another tool bit 35b, the outer end only of which is illustrated, since the inner end thereof corresponds to the inner end of the bit 35. The bit 35b has a curved tapered outer end form- 0 ing a prong 48 which may be inserted into the cotter pin eye 32 for extracting the cotter pin 31 by a prying action.

Figure 9 illustrates the outer end of still another form of tool bit, designated 350. The bit 35c at its outer end has a longitudinally extending prong 49 forming a blade which may be used for splitting and spreading the cotter pin legs 30. The bit 35c also includes an arm portion 50 which extends parallel to the prong or blade 49 and which has a transversely extending distal end portion forming a tapered hook 51 which extends across and is spaced from the outer end of the prong or blade 49 and which may be employed, by engagement with the eye 32, for pulling the cotter pin. The space between the parts 49 and 50 forms a notch 52 which may be utilized for the same purpose as the notch 45. Additionally, said notch 45 and the notch 52 may also be employed for straightening spread cotter pin legs.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A cotter pin applying and removing tool comprising an elongated tubular handle having a first end and a second end, a fixed bar secured in said handle and having an outer end extending from the first handle end and provided with a laterally opening transverse notch, a movable bar slidably disposed in said handle and having an outer end extending from the first handle end, said movable bar having a longitudinally disposed notch opening outwardly of the outer end thereof, said movable bar being slidably movable longitudinally of the handle to a projected position for positioning the notch thereof across the notch of the fixed bar whereby the outer ends of the bars cooperate with one another for closing the open ends of said notches, said notches being adapted to cooperate with one another in a projected position of the movable bar for loosely confining the legs of a cotter pin therein, and a finger member supported by and disposed longitudinally of the movable bar and offset from a side thereof in a direction away from said fixed bar, said finger overlying said longitudinal notch and extending from adjacent the open end to beyond the opposite end thereof and being adapted to extend through the eye or loop of the cotter pin engaged by the bar notches and cooperating with said notches for releasably retaining the cotter pin in engagement with the tool and approximately perpendicular to the bars.

2. A tool as in claim 1, spring means disposed in said handle and engaging said movable bar for urging the movable bar to a projected position.

3. A tool as in claim 2, said handle having a longitudinally extending slot, a connector element fixed to the movable bar and extending therefrom loosely through said slot, said connector element being slidably disposed in the slot, and a button secured to the connector element and disposed externally of the handle and adapted to be manually engaged for displacing the movable bar to a retracted position.

4. A tool as in claim 1, said bars having adjacent sides disposed in bearing engagement with one another, one of said bars having a longitudinally extending slot, and a stud fixed to the other bar and loosely engaging said bar slot, said bar slot and stud and the connector element and handle slot being longitudinally spaced relative to one another and cooperating with one another to permit said movable bar to move only in directions parallel to the longitudinal axis thereof, said bar slot cooperating with the stud to position an intermediate portion only of the longitudinal notch in registration with the transverse notch when the movable bar is in a fully projected position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 895,404 Jaegle Aug. 4, 1908 987,238 Kersten Mar. 21, 1911 1,724,435 Studwell Aug. 13, 1929 1,784,075 Quisenberry Dec. 9, 1930 1,851,126 Mikkclsen Mar. 24, 1932 2,102,926 Tipsard Dec. 21, 1937 2,108,344 Miller Feb. 15, 1938 2,191,010 Dahlquist Feb. 20, 1940 2,349,510 Mathews et a1. May 23, 1944 2,677,294 Clark May 4, 1954 

